Are You Gambling On Eternity?
According to the Meriam Webster dictionary, gambling is: the practice or activity of betting : the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet. Encyclopedia Britannica provides this definition: the betting or staking of something of value, with consciousness of risk and hope of gain, on the outcome of a game, a contest, or an uncertain event. These definitions seem to be focused on the “games of chance” in life in which one stands to gain or lose financially in this present realm.
There are many different forms of gambling. According to an AI Overview, gambling is extremely common in this country. Approximately 85% of U.S. adults have gambled at least once, and over half participate annually. While most gamble recreationally without issue, about 1% to 2% of the global adult population meets the clinical criteria for a gambling disorder. Because of this, there is now a National Council on Problem Gambling and several organizations to help when one becomes addicted to gambling.
As with many other things, man has tried to excuse or justify gambling. Some, just like with drug addiction or alcoholism, have called compulsive gambling a disease, naming it “an impulse-control disorder”. Amazingly, those who have done this have pulled the wool over many eyes and are getting rich by treating that which is a behavior issue as a disease. Sure, one can be harmed by gambling, but does this make it a disease? Studies have proven that one harms themselves by smoking, so is smoking a disease? Excessive eating (gluttony) is harmful to health, so, is overeating a disease? No, these are behaviors that cause harm and lead to disease.
Many folks try to justify any behavior which they don’t wish to change or give up. In dealing with gambling, some common rationalizations are: “Playing the lottery is just entertainment” (yes, playing the lottery is gambling). “I can win my losses back”; or “I am due for a jackpot”. Some pretend their gambling money is different from their “regular monies”. And some tell themselves and others “I can stop whenever I want” while they are spiraling out of control and allowing gambling to define their lives as they face financial ruin or fail to use their monies for the good of the family.
Some folks try to justify their gambling by comparing it to things in life in which one must “take a chance”. For instance, most will agree that every time one boards an airplane there is a chance of a crash. Many will also argue that driving a car is taking a chance because an auto accident could occur. Some of these folks will say investing is gambling because one is taking a chance with funds that could be otherwise used. However, these same people fail to examine statistics in these scenarios. The likelihood of being in a fatal plane crash is approximately 1 in 11 million. The lifetime odds of one dying in a car crash are about 1 in 93. From the same source, the chance of losing everything in a diversified, long-term portfolio is practically zero. There is a bit of “chance” involved in most everything including crossing the street. Gambling is a sin, and if crossing the street, riding in a car, or flying on a plane is gambling, then we’re all lost.
This brings up a “gamble” that untold millions are taking. Many in failing to learn and follow God’s N.T. Word, are gambling on eternity. What are they risking? They are risking where their soul will spend eternity. While living on this planet, many are too focused on the “gain” of this life. Jesus, in Matt. chapter 16, foretold of His death and resurrection. Peter began to rebuke the Lord. In verse 23, He told Peter he was (at that moment) “an offence to me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men”. Then, in verse 26 Christ asked, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”.
Did not Christ, in Matt. 6:19-20, in the Sermon on the Mount, admonish those that followed Him to NOT lay up treasures on earth, but to procure for themselves treasures in heaven? Then in verse 21, He told them how to tell the difference between those who sought eternal life and those who sought only what they can get out of life. He said: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” He went on to say in verse 24, that one cannot serve two masters at the same time. If earthly wealth (mammon) is your focus, your heart (mind) won’t be on God. He reminded then (and us) in verse 32, that God knows all our needs. This includes our spiritual needs as well. Therefore, in verse 33 Jesus said, “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;”
In Luke 12:23, after telling the parable of the rich fool to one who was more worried about physical inheritance than anything else, Jesus taught “The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.” Life is not a “game of chance” – It is a period of time in which to prepare for eternity. In John 10:10b, Jesus said He came to earth so that man might have life and have it more abundantly. In 1John 5:11-12, we learn that “this life” is in His (God’s) Son, and if one hath the Son they hath life. Those that “hath not the Son of God hath not life”.
Is it not time to learn God’s plan of Salvation? Is it not time to obey that plan before it is everlastingly too late? Don’t gamble on where your soul will spend eternity. Hear & learn God’s Word (Rom.10:17), Believe in Christ as the Son of God. (John 8:24), Repent of past sins (Acts 17:30), Confess before men that Christ is God’s Son (Rom. 10:9), be baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3-4), and remain faithful until death (Rev. 2:10).
Remember and take heed to what the Spirit had Paul write in Gal. 6:7-8. God is not mocked. What we sow, we shall reap. If we sow to the flesh, we’ll reap corruption. If we sow to the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Dennis Strickland – Mooresville church of Christ
